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PITTSBURGH — Perhaps the most powerful general manager in hockey, Lou Lamoriello says he doesn’t want NHLers playing in the 2014 Olympics in Russia.

“That will be a CBA issue, but I am totally against it. Totally against. Absolutely. I have always been,” Lamoriello said yesterday, after GM meetings in Toronto following his enshrinement in the Hockey Hall of Fame Monday.

“The weeks that we take out of the season are prime dates,” Lamoriello said. “Here were are coming off football and we have an opportunity to keep the fans going to the games, then we take a break for two weeks.

“I’ve always felt this way, and I’m stronger now because we’re going into a new CBA and it should be something that comes up. I know Russia is having it next time. This has nothing to do with where it’s going to be. It has to do with the philosophy of why and why not.

“I do believe in the Olympics. I just don’t believe in the timing.”

Lamoriello was the general manager for the ill-fated 1998 U.S. Olympic team, and says there is no conflict in his position.

“I felt very good about it,” Lamoriello said. “I had no decision whether there were going to be Olympics or not, or the timing. That was not my decision.

“But once that’s decided, I certainly will do everything that’s asked of me by my country.”

Lamoriello said that Mark Messier presented a new helmet for inspection by the general managers to help alleviate the head injuries that were a major concern in the meeting. He also said that while there was considerable sentiment to retain the trapezoids in the end zones limiting goalie puck-play, the issue will be revisted in March when the governors convene.

“I certainly understand why people wanted it, because of our goaltender [Martin Brodeur] and the way he handles the puck,” Lamoriello said.